Russell DeCarle shot to fame with the country band Prairie Oyster in the 1990s, winning his fair share of awards and selling lots of records. But that’s all in the past, and DeCarle, now 62, no longer wants to live there.
His future, and where he hopes others will find him, is as a songwriter, something he will be demonstrating Tuesday, Nov. 15 as part of the Songwriter Series at Donaleigh’s Irish Public House in Barrie.
Prairie Oyster ruled Canadian country radio straight through the 90s with hits like Goodbye, So Long, Hello, I Don’t Hurt Anymore, and One Precious Love. But as to where to find the next Canadian country artist the calibre of a Prairie Oyster, DeCarle is non-committal, admitting to BarrieToday: “I’m the wrong guy to ask about something like that. I’m glad to be out of that scene. Not that there aren’t good artists, but I have nothing to do with (following it).”
DeCarle will present material which he says represents an amalgam of the kinds of music he grew up with – an eclectic mix of blues, jazz, country, Latin music, R&B and western swing.
He remembers hearing Buck Owens and the Buckaroos on the CHUM Top 50 in Toronto on the same playlist as the Beatles, Sinatra, Elvis, Ray Charles, even Bert Kaempfert, long before music on radio became so fragmented. He reckons that music shouldn’t be so homogenized, that artists should draw from a variety of sources as he did.
“I’m a song guy,” he says, adding that stuff he hears on the roots music scene satisfies his craving for truly honest stuff. A song has to register with him, “It has to move me. It has to speak to me.”
He also admits to being a “late bloomer” when it comes to songwriter, going through more than 40 years as a singer, getting to interpret music other people composed, but at the time, learning the ingredients of a good song.
Folks at Donaleigh’s will hear from DeCarle’s solo albums, most notably Under the Big, Big Sky, featuring songs covering a variety of different styles. He’ll be part of a bill that includes fellow composers Andrew Austin and Jerry Leger.
Russell DeCarle performs as part of the Songwriter Series, Tuesday, Nov. 15, starting at 8 p.m., at Donaleigh’s Irish Public House, 28 Dunlop Street East. To learn more, click here.
